¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
The English phrase 'what is your birthday?' is translated into Spanish as ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños? translates to 'When is your birthday?'
Which one should you use?
While English speakers often use 'what' to ask for a date, Spanish uses cuándo (when) to ask for the time or date of an event.
How does it change in a sentence?
To ask the question in a formal context or when addressing someone with 'usted', use su instead of tu, as seen in ¿Cuándo es su cumpleaños? and ¿Cuál es su fecha de nacimiento? To answer the question, you change the possessive adjective tu (your) to mi (my), such as in mi cumpleaños.
Did you know?
- In some Latin American countries, people might ask ¿Cuándo es tu santo? instead of cumpleaños to ask for your name day.
- In Mexico, a birthday celebration often includes a mordida, where the birthday person is pushed face-first into the cake.
- The word cumpleaños literally means 'fulfiller of years' because it describes the act of completing a cycle of years.
Examples in context
- ¡Hola! ¿Cuál es su fecha de nacimiento? Me gustaría conocer más sobre usted.Hello! What is your date of birth? I would like to know more about you.
- ¡Hey! ¿Cuándo cumples años? Quiero organizar una sorpresa para ti.Hey! When is your birthday? I want to organize a surprise for you.
- Mi cumpleaños es el diez de mayo.My birthday is May 10th.
- ¿Cuándo es tu cumpleaños?When is your birthday?
- No lo sé, ¿cuándo es tu cumpleaños?I don't know, when is your birthday?
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries cumpleaños, cuándo, es, tu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
